The forecast for Columbia Street next Tuesday is for gusts of downhill winds, and if there’s any precipitation there’s a strong possibility of falling objects.
The topography of the inaugural New Westminster Grand Prix criterium course means high speeds as cyclists fly down the Sixth Street hill from Carnarvon Street onto Columbia headed toward Eighth Street.
Expect the peloton to produce powerful breezes as they blow by sidewalk spectators. The hard right at Sixth and Columbia could also make for some spectacular spills, especially if the surface is at all wet.
The terrain is what will make the Grand Prix a unique event during the BC Superweek, a series of nine races over 10 days. First of all, there’s the steep climb up Eighth followed by an extended incline up Carnarvon to Sixth before the cyclists circle back down Sixth and Columbia streets. The women riders will do a 45-lap of the 950 metre course while the men will do 55 laps.
“This is going to be a real hard, challenging course, I predict the field sizes will be eliminating themselves by about the halfway point,” said BC Superweek organizer Mark Ernsting, owner of M1 Sport Management. “There will be riders that will get dropped due to it, which is unique and good. It’s also a course that lends itself potentially for a breakaway (of leaders) to maybe even lap the field.”
Ernsting said anyone who watches the Tour de France on television will get a greater appreciation of how fast the world-class cyclists BC Supereweek attracts can go by experiencing the big breezes as the riders blow by on Columbia.
“The wind in your face, the hair. If you’re holding onto a program or not holding on to it tight enough it’s likely going to get blown away,” said Ernsting, a North Vancouver native and resident who raced collegiately in the United States. “The average speed at BC Superweek events is around 50 to 51 (kilometres) an hour, and that’s on the flat courses. So I think they’re going to be well over 60 km/h coming off of Sixth onto Columbia, maybe even 65 to 70 (km/h) at times and that wind with that extra 15 to 20 kilometres an hour is going to make an even bigger difference that (spectators) haven’t seen before at the other BC Superweek events.”
New Westminster police plan to put the radar gun on the riders to record just how fast they are going.
One spectator who is eagerly anticipating the strategy and excitement the Grand Prix will produce is Coun. Patrick Johnstone, an avid cyclist and advocate.
“Oh, the hill is going to make for an exciting course,” said Johnstone with a slight maniacal chuckle. “If that was an amateur race they probably not want to put a corner like that on a criterium.
“There will be many hay bales at Sixth and Columbia because there is potential for a lot of speed. The guys are professionals so I don’t actually think there’s going to be a lot of crashing. But there will be guys taking high speeds around that corner and it will be exciting to watch.”
Johnstone, who was instrumental in council backing the event, said the advantage of a criterium is spectators can stop at several spots along the course during the race to witness all the intriguing aspects of the course, or stake out one cool place for the entire race.
“It’s going to be exciting to the fans because the home stretch comes after a downhill and is on a bit of a downhill so the speeds across the finish line (Columbia and Eighth Avenue) are going to be really high,” said Johnstone. “It’s going to be interesting watching the attacks take place on that sort of false flat that is Carnarvon. It doesn’t look like much of a hill but try going up it 60 times in an hour and it’s definitely going to feel like a lot of hill for those guys … It is going to separate the winners from the rest.”
Ernsting said Superweek has several international teams coming with more than 200 cyclists registered, and the women’s field is more than 80 which is the largest field the series has ever had. The men and women will split the Grand Prix’s $15,000 prize purse. The women’s race is at 6:15 and the men’s at 7:30.
“We’ll have riders that have gone to the Olympics, representing their countries at world championships, medalled at the Olympics] including a few Canadians who have won medals in team pursuit,” said Ernsting. “It’s a really strong field. Athletes in the past that have come out to these events have gone on to really successful careers.”
The race is being put on by the city and a community committee with about 100 volunteers said Johnstone. He added, while sponsors weren’t expected to cover all of the $150,000 costs in the first year, council hopes the Grand Prix will eventually become self sustaining.
Race times
Kids 4:45 p.m.
Youth 5:30 p.m.
Women 6:15 p.m.
Men 7:30 p.m.
The kids (12-and-under) race is free and will be run on the Columbia Street portion of the pro race course to avoid the steep hills. Riders who are three- to five-years old will race one straightaway, those six to nine will race two laps, and those 10-12 will get to do four laps on Columbia.
Any children wanting to participate should check in at the Kids Zone on Columbia Street at 3:30. Registration can be done on the event website, newwestgrandprix.com.
The youth race is for cyclists aged 12-16 and will be 20 minutes plus another five laps. Registration can be done through youth cycling clubs.
